The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Viola cornuta named ‘Sunviolalemo’ that originated from the crossing Viola hybrid variety named ‘9V-29a’ as the female parent and a variety named ‘Violetto Nive’ as the male parent.
In April 2000, crossing of ‘9V-29a’ as the female parent and ‘Violetto Nive’ as the pollen parent was conducted at Yokaich-shi, Shiga, Japan. In May 2000, some seeds were obtained. In August 2000, the seeds from the cross were sown and 20 seedling were obtained. Three of the seedlings were selected in view of their spreading growth habit, medium flower size and yellow petal color. Those seedlings were propagated by the use of cuttings and were grown in pots, and then a plant trial was carried out beginning in October 2001, at Yokaichi-shi, Shiga, Japan. The botanical characteristics of the plant were then examined, using a parent variety, ‘Violetto Nive’ and a similar variety, ‘Alpine Summer’, for comparison. As a result, one seedling was selected and it was concluded that this Viola plant is distinguishable from any other variety, whose existence is known to us, and is uniform and stable in its characteristics. The new variety of Viola plant was named ‘Sunviolalemo’.
The female parent ‘9V-29a’ (not patented in the U.S.) is a strain from our breeding lines grown at Yokaichi-shi, Shiga, Japan, having a spreading growth habit with prostrate stems. It has larger-sized flowers than the new variety ‘Sunviolalemo’, and the petals are white in coloration.
The pollen parent ‘Violetto Nive’ is a commercial cultivar. ‘Violetto Nive’ (not patented in the U.S.) has a spreading growth habit with prostrate stems. It has smaller-sized flowers than the new variety ‘Sunviolalemo’, and the petals are white in coloration.
In the following description, the color information is in accordance with The R.H.S. Colour Chart of The Royal Horticultural Society, London, England.